by Geeta Kakade
She hadn’t seen hair or hide of him for the rest of the day yesterday and she’d concluded he’d compensated himself for the vacuuming with alcohol.
Christy glanced through the peephole in the front door before she opened it. A woman with a child stood there.
Did neighbors come calling this early?
One glance showed the woman was no neighbor. She was shabbily dressed, her hair badly cut, her nails bitten to the quick. The boy with her had torn sneakers on his feet and his jeans had holes that weren’t made by designers who charged hundreds of dollars.
“Yes?” said Christy.
“Would you be needing someone for work ma’am?” the woman asked nervously. “I did knock on the back door but no one answered.”
“Right now I don’t have an income myself and I can’t hire anyone,” said Christy.
The woman shook her head. “I don’t need any money right away ma’am. I would work for board and lodging right now. Frank and I just need a roof over our heads. We haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.”
The woman’s voice broke and Christy’s heart melted instantly.
“Come through to the kitchen.” She held the door wider and watched the pair wipe their feet and walk past her into the house.
“Go to your right,” she directed and they did following the hallway that opened to the kitchen.
“Would you like some coffee?”
At least O’Keefe had started the coffee.
She poured a mugful and set it in front of the woman, got a mug of milk for the boy told them to sit down.
She brought out creamer and sugar noticing the shaking hand that reached for a spoon. Four slices of toast went into the toaster and Christy got out some eggs and turned the stove on under the cast iron skillet. O’Keefe seemed to have bought some groceries. She would pay him for the eggs later.
“Thank you ma’am.”
The little boy hadn’t said a word but his glass was empty and he was watching the toaster anxiously.
“What’s your name?” Christy asked. No child should ever be that hungry.
The boy looked at his Mom and on her nod he said, “Frank.”
“How old are you Frank?” asked Christy, as she broke four eggs into the pan.
“Ten.”
“He’s a good boy,” said his mother, “and he won’t be any trouble at all. He’ll play outside when I’m working and he loves to read.”
Christy placed the scrambled eggs and toast in front of them and said, “Eat first and we’ll talk later.”
The food was gone before she’d had more than three sips of her coffee and her heart melted. They’d really been starving.
“Frank would you like to go and explore outside while I talk to your Mom?”
The sun was up and it was sharp; the backyard got the full benefit of it in the morning and there was plenty for a little boy to do outside. Christy watched him make a beeline for Toby.
“Thank you so much for breakfast Ma’am," the woman said, “I wouldn’t have bothered you so early but when I heard you might be looking for someone, I had to get here first, in case I had a chance. Frank’s father disappeared three days ago,” her voice broke, “taking our savings and we don’t have a dime left.”
Christy’s head shot up. The woman’s words had hit home like nothing else could. She knew what the disappearing father act could do to a child.
“What’s your name?”
“Moira, ma’am. Moira Stevens.”
Christy set her cup down, “Moira, I can’t pay you till I get some paying guests in. I only have money left for a month of groceries. I wish I could help, but I can’t.”
“I don’t need money, Ma’am, at least not right away. I really meant what I said earlier. All I need is a place for Frank and me to stay and food for the two of us. The landlord’s already told us we have to leave the apartment or he’ll call the cops.” Her voice broke. After a few minutes she said, “I can cook and clean. I do laundry and I can sew too. Anything you need done in the house I’ll do it. I’m a hard worker.”
The only reason Christy didn’t say anything was her throat was choked up.
“Just try me out for two days and if I don’t please you, I’ll leave,” Moira said again.
“All right but I have to think of where you can stay.”
The kitchen door opened and O’Keefe stood there, “Good Morning.”
“Morning,” said Christy. She wasn’t sure it was good yet.
“G'morning sir,” said Moira and then turned back to Christy. “I polish shoes and I weed. I can paint and once I even fixed a leak. And I have a letter of reference from the vicar of St. Andrews. He knows us.”
Sir? Moira thought O’Keefe warranted that title? And was the ‘polish shoes’ remark referring to the filthy sneakers that he had taken off at the door?
He was in jeans with a tee shirt that actually had a slit in it. His long hair and unshaven face made him look like a pirate. He went over to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee, glancing at the plates on the table and then at Christy.
“Would you like to come and look at the rooms behind the garage?” he said. “I’ve got the stuff out and you can decide where you want me to put it later. I hadn’t realized it before but there are four rooms there with two separate entrances. Each section has it’s own bathroom. They are like two apartments connected by the family room and kitchen. If I stay in one, you could rent the other out. I know someone in town who’d give you eight hundred dollars for that place.”
Why was he looking at her so closely?
“Two entrances.” She was getting the glimmer of an idea, her fears about hiring a stranger laid to rest by the fact Moira had references from the vicar. “Let’s have a look at it. C’mon Moira.”
She’d been so busy in the house yesterday she hadn't had a chance to go through the garage or the garden shed yet.
The garage, set back from the front of the house had a walk through attached to the kitchen for when the weather was bad. As they entered the garage they saw two sets of doors at the far end, one on either side. Entering the one on the left they walked down a hallway. Two bedrooms and the bathroom opened off it. Connecting the two apartments was a kitchen and a family room. An outer door led to a small fenced in area that separated it from the rest of the backyard.
The staff quarters as they must have been at one time had been well planned.
The place was furnished with everything extra from the house. Once cleaned it would be perfect for Moira and her son.
“Think you and Frank will be all right here?” Christy turned to Moira, her mind made up to give the woman a chance.
Tears flooded Moira’s brown eyes.
“This is perfect. You mean it ma’am? I can have the job? Oh thank you so much,” Moira took her hand and squeezed it, tears streaming down her cheek “I won’t let you down.”
“When can you start?”
“Right away,” said Moira. “I’ll go fetch our things in the evening when I finish work. We don’t have much as our apartment was let furnished. We just have our clothes and a few odds and ends."
“Toby and his truck would be a help,” said O’Keefe.
“That’s a good idea,” said Christy. “Better get your stuff now before the landlord throws them out of the apartment. I’m going to ask the gardener if he could lend a hand.”
The truck would hold more than her car and she didn’t want to be gone all morning.
Toby was busy in the vegetable patch and Christy was surprised at how large it was. The rows of winter squash and the pumpkin patch looked promising.
He pointed out some of the trees in the orchard beside it and she was surprised. Peach, nectarine and apricot trees, cherry and apple, mulberry, and in June he said there would be plenty of strawberries from the patch. As she was staying on, Toby added, he would grow enough vegetables to feed an army. The apple trees were doing well this year.
It was easy to see Toby had plenty to
keep him busy and he took pride in his work. It was a few minutes before Christy could tell him about the new employee and ask for his help.
He would be happy to give Moira a ride to their place and back he said. Christy promised to pay him for gas as soon as possible.
As she hurried away she was conscious of a warmth inside her that had nothing to do with the sunshine. It was linked to the look in O’Keefe’s eyes when she’d told Moira she could have the job. A look that commended her actions.
It’s none of his business to approve or disapprove of anything I do.
O’Keefe smiled. Up at dawn he’d cleaned the extra stuff out of the rooms behind the garage in three hours. He’d put the extra stuff in the empty garage. Toby would gladly haul it away or Christy Hathaway could organize a garage sale if she wanted. He had just been about to enter the kitchen when he’d heard the voices and paused by the window.
He’d overheard everything.
Christy’s confession had surprised him. She really had no money?
Maybe she was just saying that to hide how wealthy she was from the strange woman who had shown up. Erring on the side of caution around strangers was a good thing.
Whatever her reason, he was surprised by how readily she’d agreed to give Moira a chance. He’d caught another glimpse of Jake for a few minutes there.
The next instant he told himself one day’s work had shown Christy Hathaway she couldn’t keep up the pace and she needed someone to do all the work for her. He liked that explanation better.
Shrugging away the thought of the blue eyes looking happy when he’d mentioned the two sets of rooms behind the garage he told himself he had better things to do than worry about the new owner of Cupid Lodge.
He had to keep his mind on his work.
"Why are you complicating matters so much?” Phillip demanded.
"What do you mean Pa?” asked Agnes.
Her innocent tone didn’t fool Phillip.
"Why did you bring the woman and her son here?”
"They need a place to stay. Even when we ran Cupid Lodge as a boarding house, you insisted no one in need was ever to be turned away. Have you forgotten?”
"I know you’re not telling me everything. It’s all part of your plan to meddle with Christy and O’Keefe’s lives," Phillip grumbled. "Remember the rules. If we don’t abide by them, we’ll have to leave the place."
"I won’t break any rules, Pa," Ma assured him. Under her breath she said. "There’s a lot more interesting ways to get around them. Bend ‘em, twist ‘em, misinterpret ‘em. Never did come across a rule cast in iron. Not in all the sixty years I was alive."
Moira was back in an hour with two battered suitcases and a couple of cardboard boxes done up with string. She put them in the garage, and asked Christy what she wanted done in the house. Frank was given a broom and told to sweep the path that circled the house. The fact he wasn’t in school today, his mother told him firmly, didn’t mean he wouldn’t be hitting the books later.
Christy directed her to the dining room and told her to finish the dusting and polishing in there and then come out to the garage. Her first task was to go through the things O’Keefe had cleared out of the rooms. Most of it she had Toby put on one side…she would deal with the collections of books and old records later.
When Moira joined her she asked her to pick out any other furniture she thought she might use in her new place. O’Keefe had told Toby he had all the stuff he needed for his quarters. Where was the man anyway? There was garden furniture in the garage. It needed painting and he could have done that. There were paint cans in the corner. The cushions needed airing but they too were in good condition. O’Keefe’s habit of coming and going as he pleased was annoying.
By lunchtime Christy knew Moira was a hard worker. The woman was constantly on the move and understood how Christy wanted things done right away. After the dining room she polished the wooden stairs and banisters while Christy sorted the old dishes in the kitchen cabinets into ‘will never part with’, ‘can use' and ‘don’t want'. Moira said she would move the unwanted pile to her apartment.
Christy helped her carry them to the garage and then took a look around there to make sure her sorting was done.
It was noon when Frank came looking for his mother and Christy knew he must be hungry. She was starving too. The quick breakfast she’d fixed herself when Moira went to fetch her things was a long time ago.
“Why don’t you go fix your lunch?” Christy suggested. “I’ll be along in a minute.”
She went to where Toby was putting his tools away and looked around the garden shed.
It was at the end of the fenced backyard next to the neighbor’s place. Between the two properties was a row of lilacs. Toby waved away her thanks for giving Moira a ride and showed her the tools, the compost heap outside and the chair and table he had in the shed for his own use. At the back of the shed was a huge pile of wood that he always brought up to the back porch before the first snow. On the wall hung two jackets and below them an extra pair of shoes and pair of what he called “gumboots” for when the weather was bad.
Toby’s kingdom was clean and well organized.
The whole backyard was fenced in with a chain link fence hidden behind lilacs. Beyond was the rest of her property peppered with the different fir trees that grew in the area.
“I can’t pay you for the money for the gas right now but there are a few things I want to show you. You can have them for the taking.”
She showed Toby the remainder of the stuff O’Keefe had cleaned out of the apartments…boxes of old clothes, another that held two old computers and a scanner that had seen better days.
“I’ll take them, thank you ma’am and it will be in trade for the gas not in addition to it. My grandson’s into building his own computers and he can use some of the parts.”
“You have family here?”
Toby shook his head, “A daughter, son in law and two youngsters who live in Reno ma’am and visit once in a while. I have a sister who comes out in the summer from South Lake Tahoe for a couple of weeks. I’m all by myself since the Missus died two years ago. That’s when Jake changed my hours and told me to come in every day. Keeps me busy.”
“Are you paid weekly?” Christy asked. How was she going to manage that?
“You can pay me once a month, ma’am. I’m not in a hurry for my money. I have social security and O’Keefe always gives me some of the fish he catches. The missus was careful with our money and we have a bit put by.”
That was a relief. Maybe in a month she could pay him. She must be able to stand on her own two feet by then.
The mention of O’Keefe raised another point. “Is that where he is now? Fishing?”
Toby looked at her, hesitated and then said, “I’m not sure ma’am.”
Realizing she wasn’t going to get anything more out of him she turned away to the house.
Entering the kitchen through the garden door she paused. The table in the eating area had been set with a cloth and there was a bowl of salad and a place setting all laid out.
“You don’t need to get my lunch,” she told Moira who was watching her reaction.
“I like cooking Ma’am. It’s only a simple chicken salad with the canned chicken. I’ll do better for dinner.”
Christy made a mental note to pay O’Keefe for the canned chicken too. His bill was growing exponentially.
“Where’s Frank?”
“He asked if he could take a sandwich to the garden, Ma’am. I hope that’s all right.”
“That’s fine. Come and sit down and let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Moira hesitated. “I’ll eat later.”
“You’ll eat now,” said Christy firmly as she washed her hands at the kitchen sink. “With me.”
Moira brought some rolls to the table while Christy got another place setting out. As they ate Christy outlined her plans for the afternoon. She had to get some paperwork done and Moira could have a coupl
e of hours off to get settled.
Moira wasn’t having that.
“I’ll do my place later. I’ll finish turning out the upstairs bedrooms before I make dinner,” said Moira. “After dinner I can tackle Mr. O’Keefe’s room. He told Toby he’d moved all his personal stuff out,”
“There’s no hurry to finish all the cleaning today,” Christy said. “I’ve done my room and bathroom and the rest can wait. Finish your place first. I’ll be in the study if you need me.”
Jake’s desk in his study a small room off the living room was stuffed with papers. Christy organized them into bills and just information he had collected about cancer, hospital bills, bills for medicines and articles about various alternate treatments.
Sudden tears flooded her eyes. She wished she could have been here at the end to help him.
She made a note of the bills and the date they were to be paid each month. A budget for groceries and other essentials, Toby’s and Moira’s salaries, gave her an idea how much she would need the first month. The sooner she put the ad in for paying guests the better. The challenge was finding people who would stay long term rather than a few days. She had to put in something about a one week minimum stay for her budget to work.
Busy with her wording for the ad, she didn’t hear O’Keefe enter the kitchen. Hearing someone in there and wondering if it was Moira she went towards the sound.
Seeing O’Keefe she stopped short. He had two large fish in his hand and she noticed they were cleaned. So that’s where he’d been.
“I usually put them in the refrigerator or the freezer,” he said when he saw her. “Where would you like them?”
“They’re your fish.”
“I catch them every day so there’s plenty for all of us,” he said. “The freezer in the pantry has more.”
Christy hadn’t looked in there because she’d thought the old freezer was another cleaning project. Fish would be a good supplement to their diet without adding to her grocery bill. Fresh food, fish from the lake, might even attract more boarders. Healthy eating was on the top of everyone’s mind now.
